Somebody once pointed out that a lot of earlier sitcom plots wouldn't have worked if cellphones were a thing back then. Seinfeld in particular gets a lot of its humor from missed connections and misunderstandings that he wouldn't have to deal with nowadays. I haven't watched much of it, but Curb Your Enthusiasm seems to try to make up for that with added social awkwardness, which doesn't work as well for me.

googa
—
2013-08-23T17:40:19Z —
#6

Broke my phone a couple months ago, and went a week before fixing it. It took me a few days to acclimate to New York City without a cellphone. But I found that my friends made a greater effort to meet me places on time, and we just didn't change on the fly. It was relaxing!

noahdjango
—
2013-08-23T18:01:04Z —
#7

I hated the phone when they were all still landlines. this woman in the video is me.

milliefink
—
2013-08-23T18:29:33Z —
#8

I like imagining what she does to that guy's fucking phone just after the film ends.

Yep. You can be offended if you want, because it was an offensive thing to say.

marilove
—
2013-08-23T19:49:05Z —
#13

So you're not even going to apologize? Just say "yep"?

It was not only offensive, it's inaccurate and just plain WRONG. So you enjoy being inaccurate and wrong about things? AND purposely offensive while you're at it? How impressive. How edgy. How mature. How intelligent. /s

awjt
—
2013-08-23T20:16:05Z —
#14

yep

PrestonSturges
—
2013-08-23T20:18:08Z —
#15

Some comedian talked about the difference between NYC and LA where in NY if you are supposed to meet someone you both just magically appear on time at the designated site, but this is unheard of in LA.

Jason_Bass
—
2013-08-23T20:33:33Z —
#16

reminds me a little of White Bear when everyone has their cell phones focused on their "subject".

marilove
—
2013-08-23T21:54:01Z —
#17

What lazy, immature, idiotic rhetoric. You're just a troll, and not even a very good one at that.

Boundegar
—
2013-08-23T21:58:01Z —
#18

jsroberts said:

Seinfeld in particular gets a lot of its humor from missed connections and misunderstandings that he wouldn't have to deal with nowadays.

Wait... so nowadays, in the Era of Enlightenment, we no longer have missed connections and misunderstandings? Except those of us who don't have smart phones, I guess. I am weeping.

jimh
—
2013-08-23T22:10:00Z —
#19

This is what I've noticed. My friends change our plans constantly, flaking out at the last minute via a long drawn out text discussion. Rather than, you know, just making the effort to follow through with the original plan like we used to have to do. The technology very often makes getting together more difficult, not less difficult.

subtile
—
2013-08-23T23:11:33Z —
#20

As a smartphone avoidant and dumbphone occasional user, I feel this short film very much. I have a slightly different interpretation of it since I didn't forget it (or I purposefully forgot to buy one), but the resulting thought might be the same. Can't you just turn the phone off, enjoy the present moment and keep it in your volatile memory?

toyg
—
2013-08-24T10:42:41Z —
#22

Ahaha, so we're all stupid, we don't know how to live in the present moment anymore, how nice it was to wander aimlessly or wait hours for people to show up...

Fuck that.

I hated when people would agree on a meeting somewhere, then show up half an hour later or worse, forcing me to stand like an idiot around some corner with nothing to do. I hated when I was somewhere, forced by social obligation, getting bored stiff. I hated when I'd get lost, without a map or a gps. I hated having to find a phone, have change, or having to ask some bar owner to use his line at extortionate rates. And so on, and so forth.

My wife gets angry that I check the phone too often, and then she's the one who can't cook a meal without having to take a picture of it with a DSLR. Humans are fucked up like that, and it has nothing to do with phones. But no, it was all better when we'd just sit in front of a dumb tv getting dumber and dumber, or getting fucked over by people agreeing on meetings they never really planned to attend.

It's hypocrisy all the way down.

Festus
—
2013-08-24T19:56:09Z —
#23

Feeling better about not having a smart phone, and about my wife's and my decision to ban smart phones for my two teenage daughters. When stuff becomes slavery, it is time to not have the stuff.

Ocker3
—
2013-08-25T01:19:14Z —
#24

I agree, technology is not the real problem, it's just a tool that people use to express themselves. At least now when I'm leaving late for a 1.5 hour drive to meet someone, I can quickly tell them and they can do something else during that time period instead of wondering where I am.